Downwell pump



Nov.8, 1960 J. R. BRENNAN ETAL i 2,959,136

DowNwELL PUMP Filed March 30, 1959 lll/ll)I /////V INVENTORS JoHN R;BRENNAN P5 TEP 5. 51. awa/:F

BY Mm United States Patent DOWNWELL PUMP `lohn R. Brennan, Long Beach,and Peter S. Bloudolf, Whittier, Calif., assignors, by mesneassignments, to The National Supply Company, Pittsburgh, Pa., acorporation of Ohio v Filed Mar. 30, 1959, Ser. No. 802,972

6 Claims. (Cl. 10S-155) This invention relates to a downwell pumpconstruction and details more particularly with a pump structure moreparticularly adapted for use in connection with an operating engine. Thepresent application is a continuation-in-part of our pendingapplication, Serial No. 721,- 178, led March 13, 1958, and entitledPressure Fluid- Operated Pump Structure now Patent No. 2,921,531.

An object of the present invention is to provide a downwell pump thathas an economical and space-saving arrangement of its parts and furtherprovides for improved pumping capacity.

Another object of the invention is to provide a pump of improvedeiciency in that double-action intake or suction is provided, althoughthe discharge of well production is single-acting.

A further object of the invention is to provide apump that displaceswell production upwardly during a downstroke thereof, thereby providingan eiicient pump that is particularly adapted to be combined with anupper operating engine that does its work on the downstroke.

More specifically, the present invention contemplates raising the fluiddrawn by suction from a well to an elevation that is above the level atwhich said iiuid is discharged upwardly, the same resulting from a novelarrangement.

The invention also has for its objects t'o provide such means that arepositive in operation, convenient in use, easily installed in a workingposition and easily disconnected therefrom, economical o-f manufacture,relatively simple, and of general superiority and serviceability.

The invention also comprises novel details of construction and novelcombinations and arrangements of parts, which will more fully appear inthe course of the following description. However, the drawing merelyshows and the following description merely describes, preferredembodiments of the present invention, which are given by way ofillustration or example only.

In the drawing, like reference characters designate similar parts in theseveral views.

Fig. l is a longitudinal sectional view of a downwell pump embodying apreferred form of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a similar view, to a reduced scale, of another form of pump inwhich the invention is embodied.

The pump that is illustrated is housed in tubing or casing 5 which, atits lower end 6, is provided with a central hole 7, the latter beingupwardly ared to define a conical seat 8.

A pump jacket 9 is disposed within the tubing 5 an annular chamber 10being formed between said tubing and jacket." Said chamber, in the formof Fig. l, constitutes a fluid-conducting passage that opens at the topof the string formed by said tubing 5. In the form of Fig. 2, said-annular chamber is sealed off at the top and, instead, is open at 10a,at the bottom, and in communication with a production string 10b thatextends alongside the tubing 9 and is open at the top similarly tochamber 10. The jacket 9 has a lower end 11 that is provided rifice twith a central hole 12 and with a conical extension 13 that is adaptedto tit the seat 8. It will be seen that passages 7 and 12 form acontinuous central, longitudinal passage, when the end 11 is fitted intothe seat 8 of the tubing end 5.

A pack-oil 14 is provided across the jacket 9, the same separating thepresent pump from the engine (not shown) that operates the pump, and acentral bore 15 is provided in said pack-off.

Depending from said pack-oit 14 there is provided a pump barrel 16 thatdefines, between itself and the jacket 9, an annular passage 17 that, atits lower end is open to the passage 7, 12 above described. The bore 18of the barrel 16 is in communication, by means of ports 19, with theupper end of the passage 17.

A plunger 209 is ttted in said cylinder bore 18, the same being carriedby the lower end of a rod or stern l 21 that passes through the bore 15of the pack-olf 14.

It is the rod 21 that is the operating member of the engine above thepack-ott 14 and which reciprocates to move the plunger 20 up and down inthe cylinder 18.

Below the cylinder 18 and carried by the barrel 16 there is provided anintake valve 22 and below the valve 22 is provided a discharge valve 23.Said valves are formed as check valves that close ilow in one direction.The intake valve 22 has an inlet passage 24 from the annular chamber orpassage 17, a valve seat 25 at the discharge end of the passage 24, avalve element or ball 26 operatively associated with said seat, and acage 27 loosely confining said ball and open to communicate the passage24 with the cylinder bore 18 below the plunger 20 therein when said ballis off said seat.

The discharge valve 23 has a cage 28 that is open by Way of an opening29 to said lower end of cylinder bore 18, a valve seat 30 at the outletside of said opening, a valve ball 31 operatively associated with saidseat and loosely retained in said cage, and an outlet passage 32 betweenthe cage 28 and the annular chamber 10. A stop 33 in the cage 28prevents the ball 31 closing ilow between said cage 28 and the passage32.

In the form of pump illustrated in Fig. l, the ball 31 normally restsgravitationally on the stop 33. Thus, said valve 23, in this form, isnormally open and closed only When there is suction in cylinder 18 belowthe plunger 20. In the form of Fig. 2, a light spring 31a is shownbiasing the ball 31 in a direction to engage the seat 30. Hence, in thisinstance, the valve 23 remains closed except when opened by pressure insaid cylinder during downstroke movement of the plunger 20.

During the up or suction stroke of the plunger 20, uid from the wellenters the passage 7, 12 and follows the dotted-line arrows 34 to entersuction passage 17 and into the cylinder bore 18 below the plunger pastthe open valve 22. Since said suction is effective to draw the ball 31against its seat 30 (Fig. l) or (Fig. 2), the

spring 31a holds said ball seated and the valve 23 isl closed duringsaid suction stroke of the plunger 20. At the same time, fluid that ispresent in the cylinder 18 above said plunger 20 will be dispiacedtherefrom through ports 19 into said passage 17 to intermingle with thefluid being sucked up through passage 7, 12. Thus, the cylinder 18,below plunger 20 receives not only uid from the well but also fluid thathas been stored in the bore 18 above the plunger.

During the down or discharge stroke of the plunger 20, the valve 22closes and the valve 23 opens (the condition shown in Fig. l). Saidplunger displaces the liuid that has collected above valve 22 in thelower end of cylinder 18 and forces the same to follow a discharge path,as shown by the full arrows 35. Thus, said discharge is through the openvalve 23 into passage 32 and nally into and upwardly into the annulardischarge pas-v sage (Fig. l) or the string 10b (Fig. 2). During thisdownstroke of the plunger, the cylinder 18 above the plunger lls withuid due to the suction eifect of the plunger on the suctional `passage17 through the ports 19.

It will be seen from the foregoing that, on both strokes, Huid is drawninto the pump past passage 7 .12,v 'in one direction, past the openvalve '22 and "in the other, Past the ports 19. This double-actingintake .provides a relatively continuous and, therefore, more eflcientsuction of the pump than if vintake were -periodic and made on theVupstroke only.

In the second form, the discharge of production 'uid is, rst, downtoward the end 6 and then 'up in the string 10b, but in both forms, thedischarge .is upward.V

In downwell pumps, safety check valves are :freq cntlly used, the same.coming into play in oase of failure or malfunction of the intake valve22. Such safety valves are not essential to the normal operation of thepump, and the Same is here mentioned because the annulus '17 should be,considered to be bottom open for the purposesV of the present inventionregardless whether or not such a valve is used below the discharge valve23.

While the foregoing specification illustrates and describes what we nowcontemplate to be thebest modes of carrying out our invention, theconstructions are, of course, subject to modication without departingfrom the spirit and scope of our invention. Therefore, we do not desireto restrict `the invention to 'the particular forms of constructionillustrated and described, but desire to cover all modications that mayfall within the scope of .the appended claims.

Having thus described our invention, what is `claimed and desired to be`secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A downwell pump comprising a pump barrel', Va reciprocating plungerin said barrel, a jacket varound the barrel and defining a first annularpump inlet passage that is 'open at the bottom, a casing around thejacket and defining a second annular passage that Aopens iup- Wardly, acheck valve in the lower end ofthe pump vbarrel and connected to pass owfrom the 'bottom-open annulus when the ,plunger moves toward the upperend vof the barrel, and a second check valve disposed to receive flowfrom the lower end of the barrel and connected to pass said ow to theupwardly-open annulus `when the plunger moves toward the lower end ofthe barrel, the tirs/t valve being located between the `plunger `and"the second valve.

2. A downwell pump according to claim 1 in which a pack-off is providedto close the upper end of the barrel, and fluid connections in thebarrel adjacent to the pack-olf to communicate the barrel above theplunger with the bottom-open passage, whereby said barrel above theplunger receives fluid from said passage during the downstroke of theplunger and discharges fluid above the plunger into the passage duringplunger upstroke.

3. In a downwell pump having a barrel and a reciprocating plunger in thebarrel, a discharge check valve at the lower end of the barrel open lto`ilow from the barrel during downstroke movement of the plunger, meansforming an upwardly discharging passage connected to receive flowpassing through said discharge valve, a bottom-openinlet annulus betweenthe barrel and said means forming the upwardly discharging passage, anintake check valve disposed between the discharge valve and the plungeropen to flow from said bottom-open annulus to the barrel below theplunger, and a ow connection hetween the upper end of the bottom-openannulus and the barrel above the plunger thereof.

4. In a downwell pump according to claim 3, a packoff closing the upperend of the barrel and having a ccntral bore, and a stem co-nnected tothe plunger and having a sliding't insaid bore, said stern constitutingplungen reciprocating means.

5 In a downwell pump having a barrel and a Vreciproeating plunger in thebarrel, means forming an upwardlydischarging passage, a discharge valveat the lower end of the barrel connected to conduct ow from the barrelto the mentioned vpassage and closing to ow during upstroke movement ofthe plunger, a bottom-open passage between the barrel and said meansforming the upwardlydischarging passage, and an intake valve locatedbetween the discharge valve and the plunger and connected and open toconduct ilow from the bottom-open passage into the barrel duringupstroke movement of the plunger, a spring normally biasing thedischarge `valve to closed position, the discharge valve opening againstthe bias of the spring and the intake valve remaining closed duringdownstroke movement lof the plunger.

6. In a downwell pump according to claim 5, a continuously open flowconnection between the barrel, above the plunger, and the bottom-openpassage.

yNo references cited.

